Systems and methods for driver warnings upon child identification and bypass options based on gesture and posture detection

Abstract

A passenger protection system for a vehicle includes a vehicle sensor control system receiving input data from a plurality of vehicle sensors and from image data that corresponds to gestures presented by an occupant in the vehicle. The gesture is interpreted by a digital control sequence software to control an alert system in the vehicle used to prevent an occupant leaving a child unattended in the vehicle. The digital control sequence is configured for activating and de-activating an alert system after confirming the validity of gesture commands originating from authorized occupants. The alert system includes at least one of an audible alert and/or a visible alert and/or haptic alert that can be controlled according to the image data collected by an imaging device.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A passenger protection system for a vehicle, comprising:
 a vehicle control system comprising at least one processor and computerized memory storing vehicle control software therein, wherein the vehicle control software receives input data from a plurality of vehicle sensors;   an imaging system connected to the vehicle control system and gathering image data from an interior of the vehicle, the image data being gathered from pixels of the imaging system corresponding to vehicle occupants and vehicle components within the interior of the vehicle;   a digital control sequence triggered in the software by a presence of at least one occupant in the vehicle, the digital control sequence activating and de-activating an alert system in the vehicle in accordance with a child protection software program stored in the computerized memory, wherein the alert system comprises at least one of an audible alert, a visible alert, or a haptic alert within the vehicle; and   wherein the image data comprises a gesture from the at least one occupant, and the child protection software program interprets the gesture as a command that produces a respective electronic outputs from the digital control sequence to activate, deactivate, and temporarily halt the alert system; and   wherein the digital control sequence uses the input data from the vehicle sensors or the image data to determine that events within the vehicle are progressing toward an occupant leaving the vehicle with a child therein and activates the alarm system.   
     
     
         2 . The passenger protection system of  claim 1 , wherein the gesture produces, via the digital control sequence, the electronic output that activates and deactivates the alert system. 
     
     
         3 . The passenger protection system of  claim 1 , wherein the digital control sequence is in electronic communication with an occupant monitoring system comprising at least one sensor detecting the presence of the occupant other than the driver in the vehicle. 
     
     
         4 . The passenger protection system of  claim 3 , wherein the sensor and the imaging system identify the driver and a different occupant other than the driver. 
     
     
         5 . The passenger protection system of  claim 4 , wherein the imaging system classifies the driver and/or the different occupant according to categories of adults and children in the vehicle. 
     
     
         6 . The passenger protection system of  claim 5 , wherein the child protection software program comprises a bypass function triggered by the image data denoting a gesture from either the driver or the different occupant. 
     
     
         7 . The passenger protection system of  claim 6 , wherein the child protection software program confirms the trigger of the bypass function by determining that a classification of the occupant presenting the gesture is an authorized adult to deactivate the alert system. 
     
     
         8 . The passenger protection system of  claim 7 , wherein the child protection software program comprises computer implemented instructions that confirm the trigger of the bypass function by comparing the position of the body of the occupant presenting the gesture with vehicle components portrayed in the image data. 
     
     
         9 . The passenger protection system of  claim 2 , wherein the digital control sequence comprises input data from the occupant monitoring system indicating that an occupant is leaving the vehicle, and
 the electronic output activates the audible alert, the visible alert, and the haptic alert in a sequential order accordingly.   
     
     
         10 . The passenger protection system of  claim 9 , further comprising a manual reset button for the occupant to acknowledge and turn off respective alerts. 
     
     
         11 . A passenger protection system for a vehicle, comprising:
 a vehicle control system comprising at least one processor and computerized memory storing vehicle control software therein, wherein the vehicle control software receives input data from a plurality of vehicle sensors;   an occupant monitoring system comprising a plurality of sensors and an imaging system configured to identify a presence of a driver and at least one other occupant in the vehicle, the occupant monitoring system further comprising additional sensors classifying the driver and the other occupant according to a passenger classification system stored in the vehicle control software;   a child protection software program stored in the memory and in communication with the occupant monitoring system and the vehicle control software, the child protection software program comprising an alert system that is triggered by a presence of at least one occupant classified as a child passenger;   a digital control sequence programmed in the computerized memory and utilized by the vehicle control system to activate, deactivate, and temporarily halt the alert system, wherein the digital control sequence is configured to receive commands from image data gathered by the imaging system, and;   wherein the digital control sequence receives commands from the image data by electronically recognizing body motions from an authorized occupant within the image data;   a manual reset button sending additional commands to the digital control sequence that turns off the alert system after activation,   wherein the digital control sequence is configured to confirm that the commands and the additional commands originate from an authorized occupant before activating, deactivating, or temporarily halting the alert system.   
     
     
         12 . The passenger protection system of  claim 11 , wherein the digital control sequence confirms the commands by determining which respective occupant presents the commands in the image data, determining the classification of the respective occupant presenting the commands, and determining a body position of the respective occupant presenting the commands. 
     
     
         13 . The passenger protection system of  claim 12 , wherein the body position of the respective occupant is determined from the image data relative to vehicle components in the image data. 
     
     
         14 . The passenger protection system of  claim 13 , wherein the body position of the respective occupant comprises a spatial location of the occupant in the vehicle relative to the vehicle components. 
     
     
         15 . A computer implemented method of providing warnings from an occupant monitoring system in a vehicle, the method comprising:
 identifying a presence of a driver and additional passengers in the vehicle with an imaging system gathering image data;   using the image data to trigger a digital control sequence that activates, de-activates, and temporarily halts an alert system in a computer connected to a vehicle control system in the vehicle, wherein the digital control sequence is in communication with a child protection software program;   using the child protection software program to activate or deactivate the alert system in the vehicle on the basis of at least one other occupant in the vehicle being an infant, a toddler, or a child; and   upon activating the alert system, implementing respective vehicle components to produce at least one of an audible alert, a visible alert, or a haptic alert in the vehicle; and   wherein the child protection software program comprises a bypass function triggered by a touch event on a button or the image data denoting a gesture from either the driver or a different occupant,   wherein the bypass function temporarily halts the alert system; and   wherein the child protection software program confirms the trigger of the bypass function by determining that a classification of the occupant presenting the gesture is an authorized adult to temporarily halt the alert system.   
     
     
         16 . The computer implemented method of  claim 15 , further comprising classifying the at least one other occupant as an infant, a toddler, or a child from the image data. 
     
     
         17 . The computer implemented method of  claim 16 , further comprising utilizing at least one sensor of a vehicle control system with the occupant monitoring system to classify the driver and the at least one other occupant. 
     
     
         18 . The computer implemented method of  claim 17 , further comprising using additional sensors connected to the occupant monitoring system to classify the driver and the at least one other occupant. 
     
     
         19 . The computer implemented method of  claim 15 , further comprising deactivating the alert system by delivering the manual feedback with a touch event on a manual reset button. 
     
     
         20 . The computer implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the manual feedback is a gesture interpreted as a command to the digital control sequence that elicits an electronic output for deactivating the alert system.